Hitchcock, De Quincey, MurderOn this day in 1980 Alfred Hitchcock died. Hitchcock borrowed from a long list of 20th century novelists, but in one of his last public appearances he showed a wider range by borrowing from Thomas de Quincey's 1827 essay, "On Considering Murder as One of the Fine Arts." He then bid the gala crowd farewell: "They tell me that murder is committed every minute, so I don't want to waste any more of your time. I know you want to get to work. Thank You."